March 19, 2012 2:02 pm

We had an opportunity to talk with Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll and Matt Flynn this afternoon via conference call.

Flynn had this to say about making the decision between Miami and Seattle.

“I just really enjoyed it up there – really liked the feeling and everything, the coaching staff and the whole organization,” Flynn said. “I liked everything about it. It felt very comfortable. It’s a team that’s a very young team, and I felt like they’re headed in the right direction, with a chance to really do something special.

“So I’m very excited about it. And I’m excited about the opportunity.”

Flynn had a tough choice to make, with his former offensive coordinator from Green Bay Joe Philbin now the head coach for the Dolphins. But ultimately he picked Seattle.

“I am familiar with Coach Philbin and I think a lot of him,” Flynn said. “I think he’s a great person. But when I came up to Seattle I just felt very comfortable with everything. I felt like it was a family environment up there.”

Flynn also confirmed what Carroll said on Sunday, that he will be competing for the starting quarterback job with Tavaris Jackson.

“I’ve always been a very competitive guy,” Flynn said. “I’ve always been a very confident guy. And I’ve always been a guy that believes on working his tail off and doing the best he can.

“And I know that I’m going to come in here, and I’m going to be in a competition. And I know that whatever happens, whatever my role is, I just want to make the Seattle Seahawks a better football team. And that’s something I look forward to doing.”

Carroll had this to say when asked who would be his starting quarterback in 2012:

“I don’t know that,” he aid. “It was clear how we delivered the message. We now have the opportunity to make it an open competition. Tarvaris is well ahead. And he’s the guy that’s here working for us now, and I told Tarvaris when I talked to him yesterday that we’re doing with Matt is bringing him in here to compete for the job. And he’s going to make everybody better and help our football team.

“And that’s really clearly where it is. There’s no surprises here. We weren’t able to do this last year in that fashion because of the time frame and restrictions with lack of OTAs in the offseason and things like that. We had to go ahead and make a decision early. But that’s not the case right now.

“But I expect T-Jack to be better. And I expect Matt to come in here guns blazing to try and see if he can take that job.”

While Flynn has not spoken to Jackson, he has talked to other players like Doug Baldwin, Golden Tate and Ben Obomanu, and said those conversations have helped ease the transition to a new organization.

Flynn said he did not bring clothes to work out in during his visit to Seattle, but had no problem with the Carroll and the rest of the Seahawks’ staff asking him to workout and throw while he was here.

“I think they just kind of wanted to see me throw, see my footwork, see what different throws I could make just to kind of get more of a familiarity with me,” Flynn said. “And so they asked me to do it, and I was totally up for it. We kind of fun out there in the workout, and it was real laid back. It wasn’t like a pressure cooker or anything like that.”

Flynn said he felt comfortable with the offense going over things with offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, and believes it will be an easy transition.

“They run a similar type of West Coast offense,” Flynn said. “That’s kind of what I’m used to. So I think it’s going to be good working with those guys. Hopefully I can learn a lot from them and hopefully bring something to the table from what I’ve learned in the past.”

Carroll talked about his team going after Peyton Manning, confirming that Seattle indeed had a plane waiting in Denver for Manning to take a visit if it worked out for his schedule.

“We tried to hook up with him, and we couldn’t make it come together,” Carroll said. “We tried to fit into his schedule that looked like it had some space in it. But it wasn’t enough, so we made an effort. It’s kind of just classic for us, just competing to try and find a way. And we just couldn’t pull it off at that time.

“We had to take a shot at that, but it didn’t work out for us there. We had already spoken before that, and we just couldn’t quite get together on it.”

Carroll does like that fact that Manning will continue to ply his trade in the AFC.

“I like that,” he said. “He’ll continue to serve the AFC in great fashion. I’m glad he’s over there.”

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Gregg Bell joined The News Tribune in July 2014. Bell had been the director of writing for the University of Washington's athletic department for four years. He was the senior national sports writer in Seattle for The Associated Press from 2005-10, covering the Seahawks in their first Super Bowl season and beyond. He's also been The Sacramento Bee's beat writer on the Oakland Athletics and Raiders. The native of Steubenville, Ohio, is a 1993 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and a 2000 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.

It is strange that Flynn thinks the Seahawks offense is similar to the offense he was running in Green Bay. So many posters on here said the two offenses were completely different. But, what does he know???

I’ve been saying all along that the 2 offenses are very similar. Bevell got his start in the NFL in Green Bay as a WR and QB coach before going to Minnesota to be their OC and install the WCO under Childress. For me, it was one of the big selling points. The scheme fit eliminates some of the variables of getting a new QB.

hawkfan777 – There has been a lot of confusion regarding all that. But as one might imagine, Flynn knows what he’s talking about. Seattle and Green Bay both run variations of the WCO. The two share a lot of similarities, from sub-packages to terminology to route concepts from the receivers.

Come on Pete, it wasnt that we couldnt fit with PAYtons schedule, its that he flat had no intention of playing football for the South Alaska Seahawks. Which sucks, but Petey sounds like a guy trying to explain away getting stood up at the Prom.

Well, Flynn must like his chances to beat out Jackson. I wonder why?! And boy, I bet it would be uncomfortable listening in on Jackson and Flynn’s first phone conversation! Awkward doesnt begin to describe it.

Hopefully Flynn just outplays him, Jackson improves, and if we need him to step in he’s ready and willing and able. God, it would be nice to have a qb that can throw more than 20 TD’s in a regular season. Its been awhile.

“We tried to fit into his schedule that looked like it had some space in it. But it wasn’t enough, so we made an effort. It’s kind of just classic for us, just competing to try and find a way. And we just couldn’t pull it off at that time.”

Thanks for the comments. I was just venting a little frustration. I knew that the offenses were much more similar than others on here were willing to admit. McCarthy had added many of his own influences to the Green Bay offense but the base packages were very close to the same as well as terminology etc.

With that being said, the learning curve should be shorter so they should know what they have in him in a much shorter period of time.

Ok so when do we start arguing about Flynns arm strength, or lack there of? LOL jk.. I ain’t trying to rain on this parade, but I’ve been talking to others that want to say he’s got a noodle arm and what not. I’ve seen the videos from earlier. Dude makes all the throws he needs to and that’s really all you need.

I’m just very glad to have this QB deal taken care of before the draft!!!! The competition will makes us better, and make Portis better, and the recievers better!!
Now lets get down with taking our top ten D to a Top 5 level and find us a Sack machine for the line and from the linebacker core!! Is there BIG LineBacker In the Mathews mold out there? A run stopping drop into coverage guy?? Give me some names besides what Mayock is listing. How about this Brockers Kid will he be available?? get this blog going on Defense I’m ready!!!!!!!!

Making good decisions, a quick release and accuracy are far more important than having a rifle arm. It doesn’t do any good to throw the ball 70 yards down field if it’s connecting with their DB instead of your receiver.

I, too, am looking forward to the upcoming draft and season. I think the Hawks are on the right track to bring us back to respectability.

I don’t have anything against T-Jack at all! Seemingly a great team mate, a tough guy, and certainly not a complainer.
Unfortunately we need a little more than that to be successful in this league.
So yeah, I’m pulling for Tarvaris to become a better player, hopefully a quality back up for us….and not necessarily moving on to look for another full time gig in the NFL.

I hope we draft another qb after round two this year and let go of T Jack either this year or next.
No point in keeping him around at 4 million a year as a back up, unless he has a future chance of being a starter.

No chance Jackson gets cut this year. Should Flynn get injured, they’d have nothing behind him. I too hope and expect Seattle to draft a QB somewhere in this draft, but as a developmental player. Not someone who can step in and start, due to injury, in ’12.

Mercilus is interesting. He would seem to be the type of athlete and player Carroll / Schneider like on defense: very long, quick, aggressive, versatile. However, if they did draft him, in this DL scheme, he’d be Clem’s replacement. I only wish he had more than one season as a starter to study.

It may make Jackson feel better about the situation by telling Flynn that he isn’t promised the starting job, however most of us know that it is Flynns job to lose!
I could see Flynn losing his starting job to Portis before I see him losing it to Jackson.
It just shows how there are so few good qbs in the NFL for players like Whitehurst and Jackson to be making 4 million a year.

Flynn (2 years, $13.5m) and Jackson (2 years, $8m) basically have the same contract. Carroll/Schneider outlined precisely how this offseason would go and they have not deviated.

They said they wouldn’t panic and overpay for a QB (they didn’t), they said they need to get faster at LB (bye to Hawthorne and Hill), they said they need to get a playmaker at RB (bye to Forsett), a playmaker at WR (still in the draft) and improve the pass rush (Jones).

Yet, no one believes them when they say this is an open QB competition with Carroll saying Jackson is ahead right now. Is this because everyone thinks he is full of it (which he isn’t) or is everyone predicting the outcome of this QB competition? If Jackson actually wins this thing, will Carroll and Schneider go back to “the worst Front Office in the NFL”?

I have said since early last football season that these guys are bordering on geniuses and they just keep exceeding expectations.

Well yes. If they were to re-sign him, the obvious presumption would be as a backup.

Mercilus might be a so-called reach, based on mock drafts, but regardless, he’s a talented player, and someone had asked for a “dark horse” type played Seattle might look at, and got me thinking about him.

pan – The $10 mil guaranteed plus my presumption (expectation) Flynn is significantly better than Jackson, is why I believe Flynn will be the starter from, at latest, the second practice of camp. But we’ll see.

I think Jackson sucks (as a starter), that’s why I think Flynn will win. Hasselbeck plays hurt and has bad WR play and you think he’s a bum, but if Jackson plays hurt (with a great running game) and has bad WR play, well, it’s all the WRs fault (or the fault of someone else, b/c it certainly couldn’t be Jacksons fault). I know you hate Hasselbeck and I hate Jackson. I guess it’s just how we choose to view the situation and neither one of us will change the others mind. LOL!

Even though Flynn gets $10m guaranteed (anyone know how much was upfront?), the non guaranteed & likely to earn portions over the first 2 years are small enough that the team’s investment in each QB is virtually the same.

It’s more that I think Jackson is the type of QB that needs time to get acclimated to a new situation, including a full offseason. He got better as the year went on (even without Rice) and I expect him to be better this year than he finished last year. I expect him to look better than Flynn in the OTAs and the early part of training camp. At some point, I expect Flynn to close the gap and possibly take over.

With Hasselbeck, he doesn’t need the offseason as much. It makes sense he picked up the Tenn offense very quickly (he’s very cerebral and a crafty vet) but it also makes sense that he deteriorated harshly as the season went along as his body had difficulty with a 16 game season.

Yes, if one were to eliminate the significant (I think) $10 mil guarantee, the contracts are similar. But from where I sit, there’s no reasonable way to do that, outside of rationalizing a view point (which I’ve certainly done before).

I don’t think Flynn has to clearly outplay Jackson if you look at the big picture.

Jackson has 34 NFL starts under his belt. You pretty much know what you’ve got. He should be better at this point in his life. He’ll be 29 next month. At what point should he “get” it? Many NFL players are on their decline or out of the league by his age (granted QBs can and do play longer than the average player). But all his apologists talk about is how nothing is fair for him. He wasn’t given a fair shake to look good when he played with all kinds of Pro Bowlers in Minnesota. The coach didn’t like him. You know what? I think most coaches play who they think will give them the best chance to win. Call me funny that way, but there aren’t many examples of a coach thinking he’s going to screw a player over if it means his team will lose (and he gets fired as a result of losing). Life isn’t fair for most of us, but Jackson is somehow different? The world revolves around him so he can have a “fair” shake. I guess having a coach give you the starting job and not having to compete for your position isn’t fair? Granted, the back-ups sucked worse than the player who sucked when the chips were on the table, but still…

Flynn has two starts and is not in his prime yet with respect to experience. The ceiling is obviously higher. He played in one game last season, without all of his Green Bay offensive starters, and had more come from behind late game wins than Jackson did in 14 starts with more opportunities to help his team win the game.

I think the choice is pretty easy. I’m sure Brian Russell was a good guy and people talked about him positively, but just b/c people liked and respected him doesn’t mean he deserved to continue to play free safety. No. Getting someone good to play the position is what the team needed and they replaced him (like anybody who wants to win would).

pab – What? I don’t get your rational. Honestly. And this is Jackson’s 7th NFL season. It’s not as though he’s a young player. Christ, he has his old OC and a receiver he knows well. Let’s put things in perspective.

All NFL Contracts are year to year. If Flynn is a stiff, they cut him and owe him nothing after year 2. Haven’t you seen all the Free Agent contracts with the “fluff” years added on? That’s what Flynn’s third year was.

He signed a 3 year deal, not two. And of course, they could cut him next month, but would still owe him $10 mil. If you have evidence that his contract is something other than what has been commonly reported, please link it. I’d like to see it.

“The deal is for three years, with $10 million guaranteed. Depending on his skill level and whether he starts, Flynn could earn between $19.5 and $24 million from the contract, or $26 million if he performs at a top-quarterback level. But chances are he’ll play two years of the deal and then the Seahawks will make their decision for the future on him.

“His minimum over two years is $13.25 million, a league source said, with that number rising to $15.5 million over two years if he starts in 2012, and $16 million if he starts and the Seahawks make the playoffs. The basic deal here: Flynn will make between $6.63 million and $8 million a year, depending on whether he beats out Jackson for the starting job and how well he plays.”

No. I haven’t seen “fluff”years added on. I’ve seen a ton of deals that have irrationally high salaries at the end of deals, that we all know the player will never see. Is this want you mean? (I’m not trying to be a smart ass. It just sounds like you’re looking for a different way to agree with me).

“I like that,” he said. “He’ll continue to serve the AFC in great fashion. I’m glad he’s over there.”

Hah, I absolutely like that Peyton will be in the AFC as well, but I love the way he said that. Sounds like he’s thumbing his nose directly at AZ and SF. Is Pete admitting to at an attempt at throwing a monkeywrench into their division rivals plans on Manning?
By signing Flynn so quickly, it not only helps set the market, but also makes the division that much tougher to win. That’s at the least a spider-sized-monkeywrench.

I’m sorry. I don’t have the energy to debate all he holes in your logic. But for starters, the $10 mil doesn’t come at the end, as you suggest. He gets I regardless. So in any scenario, might as well eliminate that from any contract comparison between he and Jackson.

If Jackson looks great and Flynn struggles, Jackson will keep the job. So far Carroll hasn’t lied about this stuff. When Jackson came in, he installed him as the starter and told everyone that, to the displeasure of many here. So why would he make up phony junk about a false competition here?

Jackson at his worst (with no protection or help from the rest of the offense) was largely ineffectual. Hasselbeck at his worst in the same conditions, killed the team by throwing lots of picks and turning over the ball a lot. But once in a while, Hasselbeck could make something out of nothing and make some plays under bad situations. Jackson didn’t really have any such moments to make us think he had elite QB potential.

Now that he’s gone, people tend to remember the best and forget the worst. Hasselbeck had higher highs and lower lows at the end of his Seattle career, and we now fondly remember the highs. But if it hadn’t been for the Saints resurgence game, I believe a lot more people here would have been saying good riddance (ungrateful though that might be.)

Miami signed David Garrard. What a joke. If they were going low profile at the position, no big deal. But they talked Manning and actually got him to visit – then their fallback from that is Garrard. Talk about not having a plan…

pab – What you are failing to recognize is that Jackson got $1.5 mil guaranteed (signing bonus) and another $500,000 roster bonus. I simply don’t see how you are comparing the contracts, and noting the risk (investment) is the same. It’s not.

If Jackson starts this year and next year, the Seahawks owe Flynn a “mere” $13.25m over those 2 years. That number includes guaranteed money. Jackson will have made $8m total over his first 2 years which in NFL QB terms is minimal.

Flynn is making MORE than 50% higher (Actually 68.75% higher) than tjack – that is NOT basically the same contract. Clearly more than one year inflation to get him

It is also clear that Carroll likes Tjack – he didn’t make him “comPete” last year but is giving him the chance to “comPete” this year – even clearly stating that “Tarvaris is well ahead”

So the words and the Money don’t totally match – but if you rewind one year – Tjack was brought in for almost identical pay to Whitehurst -and straight out given then job – so another instance where money and words didn’t match.

I love the postive outlook that Tjack is somehow going to get significantly better, but his biggest weaknesses he should have taken care of 4 years ago.
– His reads are slow
– pocket awareness is bad AND worse yet he scrambles INTO the pressure instead of away from it.
– He does not have good anticipation for when a WR will actually get open ( this is the one thing that could actually improve with playing with these guys a little longer but I am not as confident as others this will happen)
– Took over a better team than the year before but didn’t increase the wins

We do know these positives about Tjack:
– The team likes him and responded well to him – this can never be discounted
– He is tough

Here is what we know about Flynn:
– Half of our WR have already contacted him and talked to him. Clearly they are excited to talk to him and have him here.
– He has some skills – you know just break GB records for yards and TD’s without some talent. Don’t bring up any crap about how awful Detroits defense was – Farve and Rodgers have played similar or worse and not hit those numbers
– clearly he is willing to work hard since he has clearly improved – JS even said as much – that he was impressed with he over improvement since he was drafted

– He will have games where he struggles, ALL Starters do
– He may have a problem hitting the deep ball

XCMAN – right on the 68.75%. But that percentage seems large because you are working off a tiny base in Jackson’s salary (as far as starting NFL QBs go). Even with that 68% increase, the numbers are still very small for an NFL starting QB and won’t factor into which player wins the starting job (unlike Kolb who will have a leg up on Skelton).

Yawn.. I don’t give a crap who pisses the biggest rainbow. It will come down to head to head competition. We all know human nature. Given a tie, pc will want to play with his new toy..the great Flynn will be in.

Pleeeeeease. All of this “competition” talk is only to let TJ save face, and even possibly, leave some potential trade value there. There is no way in he11 that TJ is the starter. In fact, it won’t even be close. Unlike what Duke thinks, I’d be willing to bet that Jackson’s not even on the roster on opening day.

After the signing of Flynn, I’m not really worried about anything right now.

Yeah, sure, I know we need a RB to hammer w/Lynch, some LBs, and a pass rusher, but I really don’t care right now (although you all know I do).

These clowns in our FO will get it done and it will get accomplished correctly. I can’t ever remember having this much faith in the organization.

After yesterday, I feel like I don’t have to worry about idiots screwing up my team.

For the first time ever, I don’t feel like I could do a better job myself. LOL! I almost feel a sense of relief that I don’t, in fact, have to worry about the team as much and can be a fan (in a fun way). Sounds weird, I’m sure. But there’s some truth to it!

Now that you are so relaxed BobbyK does that mean that you will only check the blog once every 20 minutes instead of once every 35 seconds?

It certainly does seem that we are in good hands. They have come a long way since the Whitehurst misshap.

One a side note, while camping over the weekend tentless and getting snowed on I’m not sure whether I was sleep-dreaming, day-dreaming or delirious. But I had a vision of P. Manning going to Denver which triggered a draft day trade of Denver moving up to get our #12 pick. I believe they were after WR Floyd to pair with PayTron in a win-at-all-costs-this-year mentality. The Seahawks received pretty good compensation.

Big Flynn fan and extremely happy he’s here. But I think we should all turn down the volume on TJack now. What’s the point of beating him up now? If Flynn goes down he’s our backup.
We are the freaking twelfth man and we should honor every Seahawk on this TEAM.
Maybe I’m alone on this.

I’m amazed that everyone is so willing now to be patient with Matt Flynn. Tarvaris played with a torn pec muscle and behind and O-line that nearly led the NFL in sacks allowed (only ‘Phins, Cards, and Rams were worse). He was sacked 42 times, but still threw for over 3,000 yards and completed 60% of his passes. No patience for Tarvaris, though. To be honest, PC did the same thing with Whitehurst and no one’s job in the NFL is secure. However, the ‘Hawks are banking on a a guy that’s played in 2 games behing a Super Bowl level O-line and receivers. Can’t wait to see the fan reaction when Flynn has a bad game. I’m sure everyone else will get the blame but him.

FYI: Greenbays OL was not very good, matter of fact, they couldn’t run the ball to save their life for awhile there. Aaron Rodgers was just on fire and playing at another level which he got the ball out really fast, correct reads, and great location!

I’m intrigued at the fact that T.Jack could possibly be on the trading block, I for one would not want to see that happen. My reasons are: 1. The team loves him and trading/releasing him would be a huge blow to moral and the family atmosphere. 2. It would mean that Portis is the back up and I don’t think he’s ready yet. 3. Got to give the guy a chance to fight, there’s nothing like getting the rug pulled from under you when things around you is looking up!

Galena- that was an interesting dream, I could see that happening and if xcman is correct about compensation then I would do it in a hearbeat! That would allow us to draft Mercilus 1st rd, Shawn Spence and Courtney Brown in the 2nd this year…now our front 7 would rival anyone in the league!

BobbyK–Brian Russell NEVER played FS for us. He was a SS. Deion Grant was our FS. Just sayin’, though I get your point. Russell kept his job too long because he was smart and knew what to do. He just got to old and slow!

On Hasselbeck: seriously, everyone here is missing one thing: Hass struggled the last few years as our qb for various reasons, but his last year he was running a new offense that in no way shape or form catered to his strengths; Jeremy Bates’ vertical offense. Had he returned to play under Bevell, I cant see how he wouldnt have done a heck of a lot better, the improved play of the entire team around him notwithstanding.

When we signed Bevell, Hass was quoted as saying Bevell was the OC he most wanted to play for, and the perfect choice for Seatttle. Its really a shame he didnt get the chance to play here another year or two.

I know its a Moot point, but I think we’d be far better off with Hass and Flynn than Jackson and Flynn.

Pabs–as for Matt playing worse as the season went on in Tennessee, I think it was a lot more than just his body breaking down. I think it was more due to losing Kenny Britt and his ultra-conservative coach making poor decisions. I watched three games where Hass threw for at least 250 yards by the fourth quarter, and each time Munchak got conservative and wouldnt let Hass throw the ball. The Titans lost two of those games, and barely won a third. The point is, Matt played well, the coach and his teammates failed. There was a lot more going on than just Matt getting broken down. He actually looked good his last four games, but didnt have the same level of play and coaching around him.

“Look at this, it’s the ugliest hat I’ve ever seen. You buy this hat you must get a free bowl of soup… Oh it looks good on you though…”

T-Jack gets a full endorsement as our backup QB. He’ll be great in THAT role. And yes I will be patient with Flynn this season while still hoping that patience is not necessary. Expecting some growing pains in 2012 while he gains experience but I will feel better about our chances to advance deep in the playoffs(if we make it) with a seasoned, Flynn led 9-7 team then I would with a T-Jack led 11-5 team if that makes any sense. Now if they like, the FO can select a qb project in the later rounds of the draft to groom with no pressure at all. Don’t know if Jackson will stay after this year but I would welcome him back as the backup if the price is right. He’s a pro.

@JazBadAzz
I think Denver gave up their 1st rounder this year plus a 1st & 2nd or 3rd in 2013. They wanted as many picks as possible in THIS years’ draft. I remember thinking to push for at least a 5th rounder in 2012 to replace our dished pick.

jay – Why are we willing to be patient to a guy with over 30 NFL starts and there’s no patience on your end for a guy with 2 NFL starts? Players get better with experience, no? And there comes a point when you pretty much know what you have, right? Poor Chone Figgins hasn’t had a real opportunity to establish himself in Seattle. He’s under too much pressure. Everything is against him. But if Jesus Montero struggles in the first month, he sucks and they should release him? Obviously this is a well exaggerated argument, but the point should be some young and inexperienced players simply take time to develop. T-Jack is so much better 34 starts into his career in comparison to his first few starts (although he’s still not good). That’s the way it goes. It’s common sense.

And when we blame poor T-Jack for getting sacked that many times, why do we fail to understand that a bunch of those sacks were his fault due to poor pocket presence?

And how did Flynn have all those great players in Green Bay around him when they rested one of their best OL, their #1 WR, and probably their #4 WR, and co-starting RB in that game against Detroit? That’s four key players that Flynn didn’t get that Rogers got to play with. This Seattle offense is going to be better than the offense he played with against Detroit in the final regular season game. You take Jennings, Bulaga, etc. out of the Packers offense, and it’s not the same.

I am pretty sure they only moved Grant to SS after Russell left. But then again, you may be right. I do remember seeing Grant deep in coverage with Russell in the box more often than not, and perhaps that confused me. Perhaps that was Seattle trying to play the same game then that they were trying with Chancellor and Thomas last season–alternating the deep guy so teams didnt know who was the deep man on any given play.

Personally, I think its stupid to bring Thomas in the box–he’ll just get beat up, and Chancellor god love him, is much slower and more burn-prone in coverage than Thomas. Unless youre blitzing Thomas or at least faking it, I wouldnt bring him in the box. They seemed to figure that one out later in the season.

@ BobbyK
I’m not against the Flynn signing, but this is 3rd QB change in 3 years, beacuse he’s been paid to be the starter (regarless of what PC says). This is based on 2 starts and FO homework. Good on them. However, the clock is being restarted beacuse Flynn will need time develop as regular. It’s waste of a year (and bum deal for Jackson because he took a beating just to sit on the bench). It shows they made a mistake with Whitehurst and needed somebody better. Now, they’ve made a mistake with Jackson and need somebody better. I’m not sold that he’s a huge upgrade. He was a 7th round draft pick for a reason. I hope I’m wrong and he turns out to be great.

Jaybrank – Not arguing with you, but disagree with your assessment that it was a “bum deal for Jackson because he took a beating just to sit on the bench.” On the contrary, he got exactly what he wanted, an opportunity to be a starting QB in the NFL. True, he did get beat up, but that’s all part of the game. The real problem is that the opportunity presented to him revealed his shortcomings. I agree with most here that Jackson will make a fine backup quarterback, though.

Jay–One other thing, OK, two things. One of the reasons that Jackson got so beat up is that he held on to the ball. If he’d got rid of it sooner, he’d have taken a lot less hits. Secondly, don’t forget that Tom Brady was a 6th round pick, so I’m not too concerned about Flynn’s 7th round selection. As you said, though, we all hope “he [Flynn] turns out to be great.” Go Hawks!

Jay–One other thing, OK, two things. One of the reasons that Jackson got so beat up is that he held on to the ball. If he’d gotten rid of it sooner, he’d have taken far fewer hits. Secondly, don’t forget that Tom Brady was a 6th round pick, so I’m not too concerned about Flynn’s 7th round selection. As you said, though, we all hope “he [Flynn] turns out to be great.” Go Hawks!

@ NYHawkFan – I hope everything works out for Matt Flynn and the ‘Hawks. Football is a business and teams take risks on players all the time even though as fans we may not understand the logic. You can’t have too many good players. For me, though, it’s going to take an 11-5 year and at least a wild card to say the QB change was worth it. ‘Hawks lost 4 games by 3 points or less last year. If the O-line and receivers were healthier, a 10-6 mark wasn’t too far out of reach. If Matt Flynn is a 4-5 game difference maker, it’s a great move. As for Jackson, I believe he took sacks because the coaches wanted him to play conservatively. PC wants to win the turnover game and win with defense. I don’t think he had confidence with his receiver’s patterns (at times), protection was unstable, and he didn’t want to throw picks. He does need to improve his reads, as most mid/bottom level QBs do. I believe it’s a bum deal because he was statistically better than Matt Hasselbeck was in 2010 despite playing hurt and behind an O-line that was worse than the 2010 team. Plus it’s one thing to go the bench beacause of Brett Farve, but another for a guy who’s never played a full season and you’d have a chance at beating out if he wasn’t already paid starter $. I think he realizes his value to the team, though, so he’ll support Matt and be ready if his number is called. Go ‘Hawks.

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